A Changed Man
by OMeggy89
Summary: What if, that faithful day on Mustafar, Padme gives Anakin an ultimatum, and walks back onto her ship before Obi Wan can emerge, leaving Anakin alone to contemplate things?
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** A Changed Man

**Rating: **PG- PG 13

**Summary:** What if, that faithful day on Mustafar, Padme gives Anakin an ultimatum, and walks back onto her ship before Obi Wan can emerge, leaving Anakin alone to contemplate things?

**A/N:** Yeah, this is defiantly an AU Revenge of the Sith ending.

Anakin Skywalker, formerly known as Darth Vader, the menacing apprentice of Darth Sideous, was about to entail on his hardest challenge yet. He was going home to his wife after nearly five years of not hearing from her and not knowing if she and their children were living or dead. He remembered the day on Mustafar clearly, how upset she was with him for the damage that he had done.

_How could you kill the younglings?_ She had asked him, nearly on the verge of tears. He had hated it when she cried, and for some reason on that day he had taken pleasure out of seeing her cry. When she told him that she wanted nothing to do with him and that maybe it would be best for their children if they didn't know about him, he had only gotten angrier. The words that she had uttered next when she saw how he had changed are the words that have been on his mind for the last five years of his life.

_'You aren't the Anakin that I love anymore,' she had said quite clearly, 'and if this is the life you want to lead now I don't want to be a part of it, nor do I want my child to be apart of it,' she had said and he was tempted to lash out at her and remind her that they were his children too. 'However, if Anakin Skywalker does appear again and Darth Vader ceases to exist I may consider letting you back into our life. He will know how to find us.' With that, she had walked back onto her ship and left without another word. _

He thought of Padme often, and he found himself thinking of her a lot, and it wasn't until about a year and a half ago that he started to realize just how much he missed her. He cursed himself for being so stupid to think that he could just forget her and stop loving her. Yes, she had hurt him badly that day on Mustafar, but had he not hurt her with his actions? By helping the man that had been her mentor when she was Queen of Naboo destroy everything she had worked so hard to protect? His thoughts had then turned to his precious child. He wondered how it was now, if it was okay. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he did not want to miss another moment of his child's life. He wanted his family back, and he would do anything to get his wife and child back. He was going to do anything to get them back.

The last year had not been an easy one for him. He had betrayed many that he loved, especially Padme, and a year ago he had run away from Palpatine's teachings, and gone into hiding in the last place that anyone had expected him to be. He had gone to Tatooine. The place of his beginnings, the place where had been forced to grow up at a very young age. He blocked his force signature so that no one would find him, especially not Palpatine, and began a process that he had once hated. Meditation.

Anakin knew that if he was going to be the man Padme wanted again, he was going to have to figure out exactly what had gone wrong, exactly what had lead him to all the evil activities he had been engaging in for the last four years. No matter how much he hated it, he knew the only way he was going to achieve this was through lots, and lots of meditation. The process was not easy on him mentally, and there were a few times that he wanted to kill himself at the realization of the havoc he had caused, the innocent people he had killed with his anger. He finally understood why Padme had left him. He would of left too if she had been behaving like that. _No, you would of never left her_ he thought to himself s_he betrayed you Anakin_. The 'Vader' part of him was putting up a strong fight by telling him that it was her who had done wrong. The Anakin part of him was telling him that she did it for his own good. The more he thought about what he part of him was saying, the more that realized that Vader was only saying the things that had been told to him by Palpatine, Anakin, however was saying it from deep in his heart. He had always listened to what his heart was telling him to do, even though he knew he shouldn't. So why had he stopped?

Everything started to make sense when he got to the time that Padme had told him that she was pregnant and he had the nightmare about her dying in childbirth. He remembered confiding in Palpatine about the matter and him saying that he could teach him a way to save her. The more he thought about it, the more realized that Palpatine NEVER taught him anything. He had only used him as a killing machine to do his bidding, and if he protested… The whips that he had been punished with back when he was a slave seemed tame compared to the torture that he received from his Sith Master whenever he did something out of line. The Jedi had tried to warn him that Palpatine was corrupt, but he didn't believe them. Even Padme could tell. So why couldn't he? That took him a month of meditation alone to figure out before he realized that Palpatine had manipulated him.

Palpatine had to be stopped, and it had to be him to stop it. It couldn't be Darth Vader, but Anakin Skywalker. He saw this as his only form of true redemption. To kill Palpatine and Sideous would be the only way that he could kill what ever was left of Vader once and for all. So back to Courscant he went, where he planned to kill Palpatine. He knew that this was one battle that he may not survive, and he needed Padme to know that if he did die in the process that he loved her very much and how hard he was trying to change, and how he hoped that in her eyes, killing Palpatine, would stop the evil that had been spread throughout the whole galaxy. He wrote it in a letter, and had one of his men deliver it straight to the hands of Padme.

When Padme got the letter, she had been more then a little more surprised by the contents of it, but she was still skeptical of what she had read, but she got the feeling that he meant what he said. The way he wrote, the way he spoke of her in the letter, reminded her greatly of the letters that she had received from him during the Clone Wars, and that is what gave her hope that maybe her Anakin was finally returning. If he did die in his efforts, she would tell the twins all about him and give him his dying wish, to tell them how much he loved them. Well, he only referred to one child and she realized that he did not know that she was having twins.

Palpatine had been able to sense the change in his apprentice and confronted him about it. Accusing him of betraying him, and disobeying him yet again. When he went to force Anakin to his knees he found that he was unable to do so. He knew now that he wasn't dealing with Vader anymore, he was dealing with the Jedi he thought he had silenced years before. Anakin Skywalker had returned, and he was stronger then he had been before. He took the knowledge that he had gained through his meditation and used it to block all of the attacks that Palpatine was sending his way. Palpatine tried to send a healthy dose of force lightning Anakin's way, but Anakin had sensed his former Master's next move and already had his Saber up, the brilliant blue blade deflecting all of the lightning as he sent it back at Palpatine. Palpatine was taken aback by the quickness of Anakin's reflexes and watched a moment as Anakin stood ready, lightsaber raised, ready for anything that might come his way next.

The Sith Master pulled out his saber and started attacking his former apprentice, relying solely on his anger as he pressed his attacks on the boy, who defended everything as he waited patiently, knowing that Palpatine would soon tire. Palpatine was by no means as young as he had used to be and did not have that advantage as Anakin did. He found himself getting tired fast and he knew that soon, very soon, Anakin would be able to overpower him. He had to come up with something fast. He hesitated a moment in his attacks as he watched Anakin closely who finally made a move and force pushed Palpatine straight into the wall at the far side of the room, giving it all of his power. Anakin watched as the Sith Master tried to get up, and could not. Anakin had won, the Apprentice was moments away from defeating the Master, and Anakin was finding him unsure of if he should kill him or not. He could see Padme's face in his head but he could not tell what she wanted him to do. Would she still take him back even if he killed one more time?

He sat down on the floor and thought about it, Palpatine was losing a lot of blood from the would of where he had hit his head on the wall and Anakin knew that he would be out for a while and that he would have a moment or two to contemplate his next move. Wasn't the only way to kill true evil was to stab them through the heart? That's what the ancient stories/legends had taught him when he was young and living on Tatooine, but now he was not sure if it was the right thing to do. Yes, he told himself, it is the right thing to do. So, for the last time ever (he hoped) it would be the last time he killed ANYONE, or hurt anyone period. He stabbed Palpatine through the heart, and it felt immediately like any hold that the darkside had on him, was gone.

Now, it was time for the hardest part of his journey to Redemption. He had to convince Padme that he was really a changed man. He was ready to be her husband again and would do anything to make her see it too. He went about preparing his journey to Naboo because; he knew that is where she had been hiding out. She wasn't with her parents though, and she wasn't at the lake retreat that they had spent so much time at. She couldn't feel Padme as well as he used to. She had done a pretty good job of learning how to block him out over the years, but his child did not possess such powers just yet. His child had, without any doubt had inherited his force abilities and did not know how to control it or how to mask its presence. So finding them was going to be easy.

So there he stood, at the door to the house in the mountains that he and Padme used to go on romantic get a ways to, dressed in his still tattered robes from the battle that he had with Palpatine, holding a bouquet of her favourite flowers. He was willing to get down on his knees and beg, nor was he afraid of hiding anything from her. He wanted to be man she wanted him to be him, and he was going to show her. Of course, he had remembered as well that it was their eighth wedding anniversary.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

**Chapter Two:**

Anakin let out a deep sigh. He was nervous that much was obvious. He had been standing on the front porch of his wife's home for nearly an hour; the flowers he had bought for her were still in his hand. He had not knocked on the door, or alerted anyone of his presence of being outside the door. He didn't know why though. Was he scared of what she would do when she saw him? Would she just close the door in his face?

He could feel two beety little eyes staring at him from the window to the left of the front door. He glanced over and saw a little boy who looked to be maybe four years old. The boy had blonde shaggy hair that stuck up in everyway that it possibly could despite best efforts to groom it to lay right. The boy reminded him much of what he looked like at that age. There was not a doubt in his mind that the little boy was his son. There was another small child their too. She had long brown hair that was curly. _Just like her mothers_ he thought to himself. Was this child his? There were only two possible ways to explain why there was another child there. Either Padme had truly betrayed him and this was not his child, or Padme had really been carrying two babies not just one.

Anakin did not even want to think about the first part of that thought. Padme would never have an affair and produce a child with another man. It had been five years though, a very long five years and it was possible that she could miss the touch of another man and gone looking elsewhere. _ I bet it's that Senator Organa_ he thought _she was always very fond of him, and him of her._ These thoughts were making him very, very angry. _Stop it Anakin, she'll never want to take you back if you think like that._

His fists unclenched as he hard little voices inside the house. Then he heard another voice, a much deeper feminine voice. He had heard the voice before, it was the voice he had called 'her senator voice'. A small smile could not help but spread across his face at the thought of Padme using her 'Senator Voice' to discipline their children. He could only imagine that the little boy would be quite the troublemaker. That is, if he was like his father in more then just looks.

The blinds parted in the same window once more, but this time, behind the two children was Padme. He felt all air in his lungs knocked out of him as he saw her. She was just as beautiful as he had remembered her. She had lost the weight that baby's had caused her, and for a woman in her early thirty's, she did not look any different then the day he had married her. Her face was expressionless as she looked out the window at him._ Oh force she hates me_ he thought to himself as she watched her disappear from the window once more. _She's just going to ignore me… I can tell…_ His thoughts were interrupted when he heard locks on the door beginning to be unlocked.

The door was opened, but on the other side was not Padme. It was the two little children that had been standing in the window not a moment before.

"My Mommy doesn't want to see you." The little girl said as she went to close the door again. He did not let her though.

"Padme," Anakin called through the open door. "Please my Angel, talk to me." He said again. His voice was panicked and choked. He was having a problem getting the words to come out of his mouth. Another woman came into view beside the child, it was not his angel, but it was someone that he recognized. She looked like a slightly older version of Padme and he figured it out.

"Sola where is Padme?"

"Padme does not want to see you," Sola said, "you should just leave now." With that, Sola closed the door in Anakin's face.

Anakin stood there a moment, blinking and trying to figure out what had just transpired between him and his sister in law. It made sense to him that Padme had told Sola everything about what had happened between the two of them, and based on the rather cold greeting he had just received, Sola did not like him. Did he blame her? Of course not! He had treated her sister like dirt, this was exactly what he deserved after the things that he had done, everything that he was now trying to make right once more.

He collapsed into one of the chairs in front of Padme's house. He would wait outside that door forever until finally she would speak with him and give him a chance to prove that he had changed.

_Inside the house…_

Five years, that was how long it had been since she had seen Anakin. Except then, it had not been Anakin that she was talking to. It had been Vader. Was that Vader standing on her porch? Or was it Anakin? She felt her heart break a little when she heard him cry out to her. She wanted nothing more then to run down the stairs and into his arms and let him know that she was willing to let him prove to her that he really was changed. That he really was the man that she wanted him to be so bad.

That day on Mustafar, the things she had said, the ultimatum she had given him, she had meant every word. She still did, and now that he was hear after five years, she was not sure if she should let him prove himself or not. What if he got angry? Would he hurt her? Would he hurt the twins if they did something he did not like? Vader's antics had been made known to her every time she turned on the holo net. The Holo Net made him see like a hero. That the killing he did was justified.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the sound of a door slam, and footsteps coming up the stairs. She looked up as she heard a knock at her door and her sister's voice.

"How are you holding up little sis?"

Padme didn't answer and she looked back down at her hands and sighed. She couldn't find the words to answer her sister because she didn't know how she felt. She knew Sola would continue to pester her until she gave her some kind of answer. That was one thing that had not changed over the years. Sola still insisted on knowing exactly what was going through her mind at all times and never hesitated to let Padme know exactly how she felt about something. Padme looked back up at her sister for the moment, she had figure out what the best way to answer her was. With something that was totally unrelated to what she had been asked. Yes, her sister would probably think her to be insane but the only true way to tell if she was dealing with Vader or Anakin was with something as simple as the colour of his eyes.

"What colour were his eyes, Sola."

Sola was confused by the question that she had been asked. _What do the colour of his eyes have to do with anything?_ Sola asked her self as she looked at Padme as if she had totally lost her mind, a look that Padme knew all to well. Padme sighed and knew that she was going to have to explain this to her but she still did not expect Sola to understand.

"Sola, that day on Mustafar, I knew that I was not dealing with Anakin anymore the moment that I looked into his eyes." Padme paused a moment and smiled inwardly at the exasperated look on her sisters face. "You have always been able to tell what Anakin was feeling was based on his eyes. That day his eyes were not the normal bright blue full of love and passion that they normally were, but they were cold and hard. They had specks of gold through them."

"So…"

"Go down there, and look at his eyes and tell me what you see."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

**Chapter 3:**

Sola had never understood her sister. From her drive to be in Politics, and how she dedicated her whole life to the fact that she had been married for three years before the day that Padme had shown up at her front door, large pregnant belly, and her husband long gone. Sola, at the time, had mixed emotions about her sister's relationship with Anakin Skywalker. She knew that he loved her from the moment that she saw the two together, and from what Padme had told her, Anakin had never once treated her wrong. Which was what caused her to be unsure about it all. How could he betray her? Sola planned on finding out exactly what had happened, and she did not care if her brother in law was the big and bad Darth Vader, or as he is claiming, it is no longer Darth Vader, but Anakin Skywalker.

_Has she lost her mind?_ Sola thought as she walked down the stairs. She didn't understand why she had to do this, and why Padme cared in the first place. It was because of the ultimatum she had given him, that much she knew. Why Padme could not go down there and look for herself, Sola did not know, but she would do anything for her sister no matter what it was. She would do anything for her niece and nephew as well. _Speaking of the twins…_ Sola thought as she stopped half way down the stairs and looked into the main room. There on the couch kneeling against the back and looking out the window, were Luke and Leia.

The twins were very fascinated with the man that was sitting in one of the chairs on the porch. Neither really understood what was going on because they were still to young to really understand. They did know though that whoever this man was someone who was a friend of their mommy's, or used to be. Luke had noticed that the man had the same sandy blonde hair, and big blue eyes like he had. Their mom had told them that their father had died in the Clone Wars, and their mommy would never lie to them.

"What do you two think you are doing?" Sola asked as she got to the bottom of the stairs and stood in the doorway, watching the two little children. The twins just looked at each other and then at their aunt. They both felt something about this man that was close to them, but neither of them were sure what they were feeling.

"We were just curious, Aunt Sola," Leia said as she turned around and looked at her aunt. All of their family believed that Leia was a mini Padme, but Padme claimed that she was more like Anakin, but right now she looked like Padme.

Sola opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Leia.

"Does he love her?"

"I don't know, why?"

"He brought her flowers."

"Hmmmm, is that so?"

Leia nodded her head and sighed. She shouldn't tell them, it was not her place. Padme should be the one to tell them that their father was not really dead.

"Why don't you guys go watch a HoloMovie and I won't tell your Mommy?"

Luke and Leia's face both lit up and jumped up and ran from the room to the kid's room where the Holo player was. She sighed as she could hear the two fighting over what movie to watch. Sola's mind went back to the task at hand as she opened the front door and stepped out.

"She hates me, doesn't she?"

"Would you blame her if she did?" Sola asked him, standing there trying to keep the protective older sister act up. She was finding it harder though because she could see that he was in pain, both physically, and emotionally.

Anakin looked up at his sister in law, not sure how to respond to that. He knew that Padme hating him was exactly what he deserved, but it still upset him.

"Padme told me something a moment ago, something that she wanted me to check for her." Sola paused as she tried to find contact with his eyes. "Can I see your eyes?"

"M-my eyes?"

Sola nodded her head as Anakin looked up at her, looking deep into her eyes. She immediately saw what Padme meant. She could feel his eyes piercing into her. They were the most beautiful eyes that she had ever seen. They reminded her a lot of Luke's eyes, but Anakin's, were filled with much more passion. These eyes were not the cold, and hard eyes that Padme had told her about earlier. This was indeed Anakin Skywalker standing in front of her, not Darth Vader.

"I think you and I need to talk…"

_To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"It's about Padme and I isn't it?"

Sola nodded her head and sat down in the chair to the left of where Anakin was seated. Anakin's breath caught in his chest at the thought of something being wrong with his angel. He knew that whatever it was, it was something that he had caused. That much he was sure about.

"Yes, I worry about what you showing up here is going to do to her." Anakin looked at her in confusion, a brow raised. Him coming home was what Padme had wanted him to do when he was changed, and he was changed.

"Sola, I have no intention on hurting Padme again…"

"How does she know that? How is she supposed to know if you are not going to hurt her again?"

"She isn't even giving me a chance to prove it!!" Anakin was getting angry now and he knew that getting angry was not going to help his case for getting his wife back.

"Well, for one thing, I know that your temper was one of the things that lead you to the darkside. Another factor for Padme to consider is that it is just not her anymore, she has her children to consider as well."

"Do you think I would hurt my own children? All the mistakes I made Sola, I made for them, and I made for Padme. I am NOT proud of anything I have done over the last five years, and I know I have no one to blame but myself for trusting Palpatine as much as I did."

"I…" Sola started to speak but was cut off by Anakin continuing on with his ranting at her, desperately trying to redeem his actions, or more likely, show Sola that he was not Vader.

"I have spent the last year on Tatooine, meditating about the events that have taken place that lead to that day on Mustafar, and I even meditated on events after Mustafar, and you know what it was that I realized?"

"What did you realize?" Sola asked as she stared at him, not helping but being captivated by what he was saying, but wondering why he was sharing all of this information with her. Information that he obviously knew would get to Padme and that was whom it was intended for.

"I realized that a) I should have never trusted Palpatine, and b) I should of listened to Padme and everything she was trying to warn me of. About the corruption going on in the Senate. That the nightmare that I had about her dying in childbirth was only a dream and that it wouldn't happen." Anakin paused a moment as he looked into his hands. He was trying to keep his emotions in check, but he was finding his resolve slipping by the second and he was not sure what it was he was feeling, whether it was grief for all he had done, sadness for the same reasons, or anger at himself for what he had done.

"My nightmares are another key to everything that has happened. The nightmares only ever brought pain, pain that eventually lead to my anger which would lead to a slaughter in some kind of way. I have a theory for what caused the nightmares, and I know to most it would sound like I am trying to blame someone else for my mistakes, but for those who really know Palpatine, they would know it is possible."

"I would like to hear your theory," Sola interjected, "I have heard all about the manipulation that Palpatine played on not just the Senate, but the whole of the Republic to get ultimate power so I can only imagine that there is not much he cannot do."

"Like induce nightmares on someone in order to sway them to the darkside to do his every bidding?"

Sola's mouth opened to speak, but she could not find the words to say what it was she was thinking. Anakin merely sat back in his chair, leaving Sola to contemplate her thoughts on what had just been said. He had sounded crazy to her, and he had thought himself crazy when the thought had first come to his mind during his meditation. Sidious was a Sith though, a very powerful one too with a vast knowledge in all things the force.

Sola turned to look at him and opened her mouth to speak before she shook her head and looked away again. Out of respect, Anakin had not touched her mind to try and figure out what it was she was thinking about, and she knew that touching her mind was going to be as easy as trying to pick Padme's. Which, in other words, means it would be impossible and a waste of time.

"H-how is it even possible?"

Anakin was taken back by this question. Had Padme never told her sister abut Palpatine really being a Sith? Or did Sola just forget. Certainly the Emperor of the Galaxy being a Sith Lord was not something that was easily forgotten by most.

"He was a Sith Lord, I'm sure Padme told you that."

Sola shook her head; she didn't remember Padme mentioning anything of the sort. That was something that she would of remembered being told. Even though Sola did not know a whole lot about the Force, she did know that there were two sides to the force. The good, which had always been the Jedi, and the bad, who were called Sith. It was hard to believe that the Republic had been run by a Sith Lord and the Jedi had never realized it. The Jedi were supposed to keepers of the peace, yet they had not known this.

"Those are my thoughts exactly," Anakin said, having managed to catch a momentary glimpse at Sola's thoughts, the ending part at least about the Jedi, and he saw the glare that she was giving him and he gave her an apologetic look, "I didn't mean to, I think it's a Naberrie talent or something, you guys are not easy to read and you are so mysterious and stubborn. You and your sister are more a like then either of you probably realize."

"So Palpatine was a Sith Lord?" Anakin nodded his head at Sola's question and she continued, "Well that just makes so much more sense now."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it always seemed a bit weird to me how he managed to get as much power as he did, but now it makes sense, and your nightmare theory, you don't sound crazy at all. I don't think my little sister would find your crazy either."

"Well, in order for her to know, she has to at least want to speak to me, which she doesn't. Why did she issue me that ultimatum if she did not plan on keeping good to it? And where did that second child come from? The girl, I know the boy is mine just by looking at him, but I didn't know Padme was carrying twins, I only felt the one child…"

He was talking so fast that Sola could barely keep up with what he was saying, and this made her smile. The man before her showed no hints of having anything left of Vader in him and all his questions were good one's even though the one about whether or not Leia was his or not concerned her.

"Okay I am going to answer as many of the questions you just fired at me as I can. To the one about the girl, she is your daughter, and her name is Leia. The boy is Luke. They are both yours Anakin and they are both healthy and wonderful and have no idea who you are."

"Whoa, hold on, Padme didn't tell them about me?"

"She told them, but never showed them pictures of you. All Luke knows is that he looks exactly like his father did when he was younger."

"Why wouldn't she tell them about me?" Anakin's voice showed a mixture of sadness and confusion. The pain in his heart was stronger now then it had been when Padme had refused to see him. Knowing that his babies did not know who he was, and that Padme had never told them hurt him deeper then anything else that had ever happened to him.

"I don't know why Anakin, I am sure she had her reasons, what they were I don't know. However, I have another question for you, what of Palpatine? Where is he? Does he know about your transformation?"

"Palpatine is dead. I killed him."

Anakin did not look at Sola as he said this, he did not want her to see his face when he said it. He had sworn that he would never kill again, and that day he went to confront Palpatine that is exactly what he had done. Sola thought that he did what was needed to be done and she agreed with him for what he did, but she wasn't sure if Padme would be feeling the same way.

"I understand why you did it, and I think it was the right thing to do. I just hope Padme does."

"I hope so to."

Sola stood up and Anakin did as she did, and watched as she walked to the door going to go inside.

"Would you like to come in where it's warm? I am going to go talk to Padme and reason with her and tell her what you told me. I know that is why you told me all that you did."

Anakin nodded his head and followed her in.

"Hey Sola can I ask why you asked to look at my eyes?"

"Padme said that if your eyes were red and gold, or hard and not soft then it wasn't her Anakin, but if they were blue and soft and loving looking and full of passion then it was her Anakin."

Anakin nodded his head as he still followed behind her. It all made sense to him now. Padme had always told him that his eyes spoke all the words he never told her. She could look at his eyes and know exactly what he was feeling. So, now, when she was deciding whether or not to let him back into her life, she would get Sola to look into his eyes.

"I am going to go and talk to her, you can go into the kitchen…" Sola was interrupted by the site of Padme standing up off one of the stairs. Anakin saw her stand and he quickly moved over to the stairs to where she was and rushed up to her, picked her up, and carried her into the first room he found so that they could talk, in private.


	5. Chapter 5

"Anakin Skywalker put me down NOW!" Padme growled angrily as she kicked at him as he carried her up the stairs.

"No, we need to talk and I am going to make sure we do."

Anakin commanded the door to open using the force and entered into the room, closing it the same way he had opened it. He set Padme down on the bed and backed off. He didn't dare look at his angel; he was still ashamed of all that he had put her through. He found it hard to not look at her though. She was as beautiful as she had been the day he met her, and he could not help but look at her now.

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Sorry," he muttered as he looked away again. She was cold, and was not going to make this easy for him. He expected that much, but she was the one that told him to come home when he was changed.

"Why are you here?"

Anakin was confused; didn't she know why he was here? Or did she want him to say it?

"I have come home to you, I don't want to be apart from you anymore." He paused and looked over at her a moment, locking his eyes on hers for a brief moment before he looked away. "After Mustafar I tried to force myself to believe that you had betrayed me, that you didn't love me and that everything was your fault. But it wasn't Padme, it was my fault, all my fault and I have paid for it. I paid for it in the worst way Padme. I lost you, and I lost our children."

Anakin paused breathing heavy from the pacing that he had started to do. Padme sat in silence, her hands folded in her lap as she listened to him. He seemed sorry to her, and it did not sound like Vader, the emotion and nervousness that he possessed while speaking to her, reminded her a lot of the nigh that he expressed his feelings for her by the fireplace at Varykino.

"I want to prove it to you Padme. I want to prove to you that I have changed, and I will."

"Anakin…"

"No, don't Anakin me Padme, let me talk, let me explain." His emotions were running wild and Padme did not like where he was heading. Padme could see that he had changed, but he still let his emotions get the better of him like he was doing right now.

"I think you should leave Anakin." She had used her old Senator voice on him and she was standing now, arms crossed over her chest. "No, I know you should leave."

"Please, Padme, I beg you don't do this." His voice had gone soft as he fell to his knees in front of her. "I will get on my knees and beg you."

"Anakin get out. You are still to much in Vader's hold for me to take you back."

"Vader is dead Padme! He died when Palpatine did."

Padme's head flew up at the last part of what he said _Palpatine was dead?_ She was thrilled to hear that the horrible man was dead, but she had a hard time believing that Vader was dead as well, especially after all the emotions that Anakin had been speaking with.

"So I guess that makes you the new Emperor."

"No."

"Well you were Palpatine's right hand man, surely he would lave it all to you to run."

"Yes, he left it to Vader to run, but as I said, Vader is dead." Knowing at this point that it was pointless to try and reason with her moved toward the door. "I declared it a Republic once more and returned the powers back to the Senate."

"You did that?" Padme asked as she looked at him.

"It is what you would of wanted," he said as he moved over to the door and opened it again, "oh and Padme," he stopped looking back at her, his eyes full of more love for her then ever before, "I made the journey back because of you. Living without you was like not living at all. I won't try to justify the actions that I did during my biddings for Palpatine, but I will tell you, I wished myself dead for the pain that I caused."

"Was it worth it Anakin? All the killing?"

"No. I still lost you."

With that, Anakin walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him. He left Padme to contemplate her thoughts as he walked down into the kitchen where Sola sat, waiting for him.

_Back upstairs in the room…_

Padme was left breathless at what he said. He truly had changed and he was going to stop and nothing to make her see it. He wanted to be apart of her life again, and she wasn't sure if she should. He would bring up the ultimatum she gave him, and she remembered that, but if it came down to the safety of her children then Padme would lie and say she did not mean it. Anakin may hate it for her, but it was not just her life that she had to worry about anymore. _What if the twins figure out who he is? _Padme asked herself praying that was not the case _they are both extremely force sensitive just like him and Luke looks exactly like him, surely they will make the connection._ Her children were in no way stupid, and even at the age of five they knew more then any other children she had ever met.

"What am I going to do?" She asked herself softly. She loved him, that much had not changed, but could she trust him? Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at her door.

"Padme could we talk please?" It was Anakin's voice, and she really did not want to talk to him right now. She did not respond to him, she ignored him, hoping that if she did he would just go away and not bother her. She was confused right now about the conversation she had with him not half an hour earlier.

"Angel please do not do this to me. I have spent the last year on Tatooine meditating on every event that has happened in my life, everything that I have done, and everything that I believe lead to my falling to the darkside. I think I found the reason, the reason that I explained to your sister."

Padme went to the door and slowly opened it and looked at him, he was pacing back and forth in front of her door, and was starting to get rather breathless to the point that his words were not coming out right. He was in a sweat as well. She had never seen him this distraught in the three years that they had been married and together.

"Maybe you should go and get something to cool yourself down."

"Padme, stop avoiding this and listen to him."

"Sola?" Padme was confused as to why her sister was interjecting and telling her to listen. It was Sola who had kept telling her for the last five years that she was better off without Anakin and so were the twins.

"Stop letting your stubbornness get in the way of letting Anakin back in. I get it your hurt and don't know if you can trust him, but he and I talked and he has changed. Now, put your damn pride and stubbornness to the side and listen to him. He is your husband for the makers sake."

"Fine, I'll listen."

Anakin stopped in his tracks and looked at Sola, sending her a look of pure relief and showing his thanks to his sister in law. Padme was stubborn, no one knew that better then him. Well, except for maybe her very own family, but that was beside the point. His angel was going to say and actually listen to him, about his theory. If anyone were going to find that it was not in the slightest way crazy, it would be Padme. He stopped moving and stood in front of her. _I must not pace _he willed himself as he prepared for what he was about to tell her.

"I think Palpatine was responsible for the nightmares that I had." There, he said it, and Padme's face showed no emotion what so ever. Her mind was more blocked off then it ever had before and she just stood there. He had to have been standing in front of her for over five minutes before she finally opened her mouth to speak.

Padme's first reaction was that he was crazy. However, the more and more that she thought about it the more that it made sense to her. There had never been a reason to explain why Anakin's nightmares came true in one way or another. Like, the one about his mother dying. The only one that had not come true was the one about her dying in child birth. However, she couldn't help but think what would of happened if Anakin had not tried to stop that from happening. Would she still be alive today?

An event on Mustafar popped into her mind as she remembered Anakin telling her that Palpatine was the Sith Lord that the Jedi had been looking for over the ten years since the Battle of Naboo. Padme was uncertain at the time if Anakin had been telling her the truth, but now it all was making snese to her.

"So are you saying that Palpatine was really a Sith Lord?"

"Yes. You didn't believe me when I told you the first time?"

Padme shook her head, and Anakin looked at her, looking disspapointed that she had not believed him the first time that she had told him. Padme was able to figure out what he was thinking just by looking at his face and she let out a small sigh.

"Ani you were not acting like yourself that day. You were him, Vader, a man that had helped to destroy everything that I had worked so hard to keep in tact. I don't think I believed anything that you said that day. I wouldn't let myself."

"I was telling you the truth Padme. I would NEVER lie to you or tell you false information EVER."

"Well, knowing now that Palpatine was indeed a Sith, and from the knowledge about the Sith and the Jedi that I have studied over my years in politics, I would say that you don't' sound crazy. It sounds like something that was possible for a Sith to be capable."

"Padme, they are capable of a whole lot worse then that." Anakin said as he shuddered at the memories from the torture sessions that he had received over his time as Palpatine's apprentice. These were not things that he would share with Padme though. It was time to move on, time to start fresh.

"Welcome home Anakin Skywalker."

That was all she said as she turned and walked out of the room and wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a soft and loving kiss on his lips.

Anakin's face spread in to a wide grin as he looked down at his wife. It felt good to hold her in his arms again. He couldn't wait until he officially was introduced to his children even though he was sure that both had figure out who he was by now. He was happy to be home, and he intended on never screwing it up again.

"Re-marry me…"


	6. Chapter 6

_She took me back, but she doesn't want me_ that is what was running through his head now. Padme had rejected his marriage proposal. She had told him clearly that just because she had forgiven him, didn't mean that she was going to rush right into the mistakes that she had made before. _Was she trying to tell me that our marriage was a mistake?_ He guessed that she was probably right. Padme had always been the sensible one out of the two of them, more so then he had ever been.

Now, he sat in the spare room, thinking like Padme had before when she slammed the door in his face. It was her that he had always wanted, no one else. She was his angel, no one else. He had to admit that he did not think that she would say yes, but he wasn't expecting a flat out NO, more along the lines of a maybe. He did have one thing to look forward to though; he would be getting to meet his children tomorrow. Luke and Leia, and they were indeed both his. He still had a hard time believing that he had not sensed it when she was pregnant. He was supposed to be most powerful Jedi, force user, in the whole galaxy and yet he had not been able to sense that his wife had been carrying twins. That was in the past now though, it was time to focus on the future and getting Padme to want to be with him again, and be able to share a bed with her again. Oh, he had really missed the feel of her body wrapped in his while he held her all night. When he held her while he slept, he found it easier to sleep peacefully.

"Time for bed babies," he heard Padme say from outside of the door.

"I don't wanna Mommy."

_That must have been Luke_ he thought to himself as he got up and walked toward the door, listening to them talk. He gave his son a little force suggestion of sleep, lightly whispering to him that he should go to sleep. He wouldn't know where the voice came from, or who, just that someone was telling him it was time for bed. He then did the same to his little angel, though she was much more resistant to it. _Stubborn, just like her mother_ Anakin thought with a small snicker as the voices outside the door had now died down as Padme got the kids into their bed.

_Once the twins are asleep…_

Padme sighed as she headed to her room. It had been a long day for her, seeing Anakin again was not easy for her. She had been trying to avoid him and stay hidden from him for so long that him being not only on Naboo, but also in her home, was a little more then she could comprehend. On top of that, he had the nerve to ask her to marry him again. How could he do that? After everything that he had done did he expect that she would marry him?

_Marrying him again would be what is best for the twins_ she thought to herself, but she shook her head. _But what if he got angry with them? There is nothing stopping him from hurting them_. Why was she thinking like that? He was a different man now that much she had seen it. He did not possess the lust for power that he seemed to have before. He seemed quite at peace with himself actually, which for Anakin as long as she had known him, had not been an easy thing for him. Countless times he had told her that the only times he had ever been at peace was when he was with her. _Maybe someday we will be able to return to that, but I need time. Time to forgive him for all that he has done and all the pain that he has caused._

That was the decision that she came to, and that was the last she was going to think of the matter for the time being. She would allow him to stay in the spare room, and spend as much time as he wanted with the twins. However, he tried to harm them in any form, or even touch her babies in any harmful way, she would not hesitate to kill him right where he stood.

With that, Padme climbed into bed and pulled out a data pad that she had been reading. It was the latest holodrama novel that she had just got her hands on, and she had been quite anxious to read. She didn't know why, but when her own life was drama ridden, she still enjoyed reading the drama that fictional writers came up with, to compare how realistic it is. She was weird, and she knew it too. It was one thing that Anakin had loved about her, and something Sola had always made fun of her for.

_The Next Day…_

Sola thought that she had been the first one up that morning like she usually was, but when she got down stairs, sitting on one of the stools in the kitchen was her baby sister. She had wanted to speak to Padme the evening before about the events that had taken place the day before, but Padme, was already a sleep when she made it up to talk to her.

"I wanted to talk to you last night," Sola said as she entered the kitchen and made her way toward the caf machine on the far counter.

"You did? What about?"

"About Anakin, what you plan on telling the twins. They may be five years old little sis, but they are not going to be happy that you kept this from them."

"Sola, I know. I spent a lot of time last night thinking about what I am going to tell them. They are still to young to tell them that I did it for their own good."

Sola walked over to her sister and wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders. She didn't like seeing her sister like this, and she knew that she should just march up to that spare room and kick Anakin out of the house so that he could no longer cause Padme any more pain, but that wasn't right.

Padme leaned into her older sisters arms, she always felt safer when she could just hide behind her sister, but she knew this was her problem and she was going to have to come out and face the music at some point in time. The sooner she did, the better it would be for everybody.

"Well, I am going to make the twins their favorite breakfast," Padme said as she stood up and walked over to the area of the kitchen where the cooker was and sighed wondering where to begin. The twins had always loved the taste of Shurra pastries, just like she did, so that was what she was going to make.

"He looks just like you Luke," Leia said to her brother as she looked down at the man sleeping on the bed in front of them. Both twins knew that they would get into no shortage of trouble if their Aunt Sola or mother caught them in this room, invading the strange man's space but something forced them to do it anyways. In the last five years they had learned that the excuse 'because I was curious' and big puppy eyes doesn't actually work on their mother. They had heard their mother tell her Aunt Sola that when they did this it reminded her of her Ani.

Luke and Leia jumped back when the man on the bed let out a loud groan and rolled onto his back and looked at them, blinking slightly.

"What are you two doing in here?" He asked groggily as he looked around, blinking, and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Luke and Leia exchanged glances between the two of them, and Anakin looked at them kind of like 'Well?' When neither of the two answered him Anakin sighed and pulled back the covers and stood up, well aware that he was only in his under shorts, and walked over to where his pants were.

"Where is your mother? Is she up yet? Does she know you're in here?" He asked his children as he pulled his pants on. He looked at them as they both shook their heads, both wearing expressions of mischief, Luke's he recognized and realized it was as if he was looking in the mirror.

"Well, why don't we go let her know you're awake?" He suggested kneeling down onto one knee, "hop on."

Luke and Leia both ran over and jumped onto Anakin's back, and it felt so natural to be doing this with them. It was time to make up for the last five years even though they still did not know that he was their father just yet. That was something he was going to have to talk to his angel about changing.

He ran down the stairs, jumping a few steps here and there, making the twins bounce around, whom both seemed to be loving this as they giggled the whole time. They got to the kitchen door and Anakin stopped abruptly when his eyes fell upon his Angel. She was wearing a silk, light blue nightgown. He could feel his heart catch in his throat as he looked at her, age had done her justice as she was just as beautiful as the day he had first met her, if not more so.

"Morning mommy!" Leia chimed from her fathers back, alerting her mother that they had arrived and waking their father from the daze that he seemed to have fallen into.

Padme turned around when she heard her daughters voice and saw them on Anakin's back. This slightly alarmed them, _what if he had told them?_ She thought to herself. He wouldn't do that without her permission that much she was almost positive of. But, she did know Anakin, and she did know that this was something that would get him excited. She remembered how excited he had been when she told him that she was pregnant and how happy he had been. Now, he was meeting them for the first time and it wouldn't surprise her if it had accidentally slipped out of his mouth.

"Ah I see you have met your father," Padme said without realizing exactly what she had just said until moments after the words had exited her lips. Both twins exchanged glances and then looked at their mother, then at the man that they had just been told her mother.

"I knew it!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Star Wars and all characters in this story are copyright to George Lucas. The thoughts that go into this story all belong to me **

**A/N: Alright guys, I am sorry that it has taken me so long to get this up but life and school has gotten in the way of my writing time. I hope this chapter measures up to your expectations! **

**Chapter 7:**

The small voice that had spoken was Leia. It was easy to tell that she hurt by the fact that no one had told nor her or Luke the truth about their father. It was hard for her to think that her father had been alive and somewhere in this galaxy the whole time and their mother had told them that he was dead. Did she not think that she and Luke might like to meet him at some point? What had happened to make her mother not want them to know him, and why had he never tried to find out where they were?

Anakin could feel the thoughts running through his daughters mind, and the thoughts that were in his sons mind were not much different that of his sisters. The twins may be only five years old, but the were wise way beyond there years. No doubt it was because of the amount of force that they had flowing through their veins, force strength that they had no doubt gotten from him.

"How did you know?" Padme asked, looking down at her daughter.

"Well, Lukie looks like him, and his presence felt familiar to me."

Padme had never heard her daughter use as big of words as these, no doubt her daughter was a lot like her in that sense. Padme looked up at Anakin who was looking down at her. His gaze was full of wonder, and love. Love that was no doubt for her and her twins, the wonder, no doubt had to do with why she never told the twins that he was really alive, not dead.

"Why didn't you tell us Mommy?"

This question had come from Luke as he walked over to where his Mom was and sat down on her knee. Padme sighed, thinking of how she was going to answer. No matter how she tried to approach this, the twins were in no way ready to know exactly why they had been told what they did and why this was the first time that they were meeting their father.

"It's a long story my babies, and someday I will tell you the full truth. Right now though, I would say that you are not ready. What's important is that he is here with us now."

Padme looked up at Anakin, a smile was apparent on her face. Maybe this could work out, them being a family. It would take a lot for her to forgive Anakin for destroying everything that she had worked so hard for during her diplomatic career. She knew someday she would fully forgive him for his mistakes, she had seen it with her own eyes that he had changed, and she knew that he felt guilty for the mass murder that he had committed. _Did his killing Palpatine make up for that?_ She mused in her mind, part of her said that it did because it meant the man that had been responsible for her husbands turn to the dark side, and the one who had brought on the era of darkness in the Galaxy, would the galaxy not be better without him? The other side of her though could not help but wonder if it showed that he still had the ability to kill in him. No matter the necessity, didn't that prove something that he could kill without a second thought? She knew that the first answer was closer to what she believed, but the second thought still creeped into her mind.

"Why haven't you tried to find us?!" Leia demanded as she turned with her hands on her hips, and glared at her father. It took every ounce of Anakin to not grin at his daughter. Right now, she looked exactly like her mother did whenever she got angry. The chocolate brown orbs so full of anger and the cute little scowl. Anakin crouched down to her level and put his hands on her elbows and looked into his daughter's eyes.

"I had been told that you, and your brother, even though I thought your Mom was only carrying one of you at the time, and your mother were all dead."

Padme glared at her husband for the amount of honesty that he had just shared with their daughter. Padme was taken aback as well, had really thought that she was dead? Who would of told him that they were dead? How was that possible? _I left him there and I was perfectly fine_ Padme thought to her self as she tried to think it through. She came to the conclusion that Palpatine in some way must of manipulated the truth to make it seem different then how it actually was. _Bastard_.

"Why would someone tell you that?" Leia asked again. Anakin held back another chuckle at the level of curiosity that his five year-old daughter held. _Too much like her mother she is_ Anakin thought, realizing not a moment later that it came out exactly like how Master Yoda would of said it. He shook his head, thinking that he had finally lost it.

"That, my precious daughter, will be told when the time is right. I promise." Anakin then leaned forward and kissed his daughters cheek. Leia giggled at the feeling of her father's bristly cheek against her soft skin, and Anakin chuckled out loud this time too. Leia's giggle reminded him so much of her mothers as well.

"For now why don't you guys go and eat those delicious smelling pastries."

Anakin flashed his most charming grin Padme's way as he said this, watching as she rolled her eyes he let go of his daughter and stood up. He wanted nothing more then to just walk over to Padme right now and lay a nice deep kiss on her. Something he had spent all night dreaming about, something he had constantly dreamed about when they were separated.

_If the kids are going to eat those pastries I should probably finish them_ Padme thought to herself as she walked back over to the cooker to pull them out. As she was pulling them out though, she felt two strong arms wrap around her from behind her and felt familiar lips against her ear.

"You really are a wonderful mother Padme, don't ever doubt that," he whispered softly in her ear. The sound of voice still gave her shivers down her spine, he smiled at her reaction, he expected nothing less from his angel. It was how she had always reacted and he did not expect her bodies reaction to him to change that much.

Padme put the pastries on a plate and forced another smile to come to her face as she maneuvered her way around Anakin and headed toward the table. Anakin was left completely baffled by Padme for the third time since he had arrived here. She was not going to forgive him easily that much he had known.

Anakin felt a gentle tug at the leg of his pants and looked down to see Luke standing at his feet with his arms in the air. _Isn't he a little big to be picked up?_ Anakin thought to himself as he bent down to pick up his son.

"Hey buddy what is it?" Anakin asked noting the sad expression on Luke's face.

"What do you want me to call you?" Anakin blinked. This took him slightly off guard. He thought that his son would want to call him 'Dad' or something a long those lines.

"Well, I would like it if you called me Dad, but if you're not comfortable with that you could always call me Anakin."

Luke nodded at his Dad's answer and jumped out of his Dad's arms and went and jumped into his chair at the table and grabbed a pastry before digging in. _He certainly like's those pastries_ Anakin smirked as he watches his son digging into the pastries like they were all going to dissapear and it was his last meal ever. Both Anakin and Padme had the same thought at the same time. They both thought of how like his father Luke was. Anakin had always found Shurra Pastries delicious and he had especially loved it when Padme made them for him when he was home from the war.

Anakin had Padme locked eyes and smiled one another. They were falling in love again, and it was going to be thanks to their two precious babies that they did once more.

**A/N: Alright that's the end of Chapter 7! I hope that you enjoyed and will be welcoming some feed back and any ideas that you may have for where I should go next with the story!**


End file.
